Library Educators Course

The first batch of the LEC concluded in March 2014. There is a quiet pride is knowing that in multiple corners of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh educators who are deeply engaged with children’s learning have refreshed their thinking and reflection around books.

The Library Educators Course touched the core of many aspects of library work but I think most significantly it has touched the lives of educators who feel isolated and often forgotten.

In the new age of a highest enrollment in schools from children of diverse literacies, print literacy is the most sought after goal. This is no easy task in a country of rich linguistic and cultural diversity like ours. And so the power and place of the library is of far greater significance and import.

We have imagined libraries as store houses and repositories and sometimes as guardian spaces of learning, and while we have invested in many aspects of learning and material we have been unable to privilege the library and the people therein.

I think the Course is of great significance in how it has imagined the empowerment of educators through the tool of books. How it has valued learning and sharing and growing in understanding and world knowledge through books and stories but most of all I think the Library Educator’s Course has privileged the various people who work every day with children and story and empowered them to feel supported on this journey.